Jammin'

Embracing my inner Martha, I decided to take advantage of the fading summer fruit season and make jam. It turned out to be the perfect rainy day activity with my mother-in-law on a recent visit chez the in-laws. We had a lovely day cutting, stirring, canning and chatting. We tackled three different kinds: strawberry, blueberry and blueberry-peach with cinnamon.


Underestimating how far the fruit would go, we ended up with dozens of jars of fruity goodness. Homemade jam is the perfect hostess or housewarming gift, so make lot’s! It’s been fun to share with friends and enjoy late night snacks of toast and jam with my hubby.

A few things to remember when making jam:

Have plenty of sugar on hand. I could not believe how much we went through!



Wear a cute apron. The more floral the better. This also serves a functional purpose.


Give yourself a full day to enjoy jammin’. I overdid it on the fruit and we had to make a mid-day run to get more mason jars.



Explore recipes. We compared and combined recipes we found in cookbooks and online.

Making the jam is only half the fun. Next comes the decorating and labeling. I hit the fabric store, Michael’s and blogs for inspiration, and found a free label template on Eat, Drink, Chic.





My sister also sent along some photos from her recent Texas-peach jam adventures. Adorable.



As we washed up the last pot of the day and happily listened to our jars pop, my mother-in-law expressed that our day had inspired her to get back into canning and preserving- something she enjoys and hasn’t done in a while. It was the perfect ending to a long, fun and sticky day.